Loose Mustang Terrorizes Deer Park Road Drivers Near Liberty Reservoir For Two Months

A four-year-old mustang has been roaming the woods around Liberty Reservoir for nearly two months, darting across Deer Park Road at night and rattling drivers who say it's only a matter of time before someone gets hurt. The untrained horse escaped its owner on June 29, and officials, a professional trapper, and the horse's own owner have all been trying to corral it ever since.

Tenille Moore told WBAL she initially questioned whether she was imagining things the first time she spotted the mustang, but she has since seen the horse four or five times. On one occasion, Moore said she had to run off the road to avoid hitting the animal, and she says she nearly hit it outright. Most of the sightings, according to the station's report, happen after dark, which has made the horse far harder to locate and trap.

A Two-Lane Bridge Becomes a Danger Zone

The mustang has repeatedly been spotted crossing Deer Park Road, the two-lane corridor that crosses the North Branch of the Patapsco River and Liberty Reservoir right at the border between Carroll and Baltimore counties near Finksburg, according to the Reese Volunteer Fire Company. That stretch of road connects the two counties and sees regular commuter traffic, which is part of why residents are so worried. Susan Hayden said she and other drivers have taken to slowing down and using their hazard flashers to avoid startling the horse when they see it near the roadway.

Residents have said they fear the mustang could cause serious injuries if a driver doesn't see it in time, and they've called for additional measures to warn motorists. Officials have already posted horse crossing signs along Deer Park Road in response. A motorcyclist reportedly approached the mustang at one point, though the animal is known to run if anyone gets close, per the same account from WBAL-TV.

Why the Horse Won't Come Easily

Elizabeth Kuegler said plainly that the mustang is a safety issue, and Hayden said the priority now is making sure the animal is safely brought in. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources has said the four-year-old mustang requires professional handling, since it remains untrained and, according to its owner, does not like human contact. Wild mustangs captured from western rangelands retain strong flight instincts, and federal Bureau of Land Management adoption rules reflect that reality — adopters of untrained adult mustangs are legally required to house them in corrals of at least 400 square feet per horse, enclosed by fencing at least six feet high, according to the Bureau of Land Management. Those same federal rules require compliance inspections within six months of adoption and veterinarian certification before an adopter receives ownership title after a one-year holding period.

The Humane Society of Carroll County has connected the horse's owner with a professional trapper, and the organization says it will keep passing along sighting information to help with the effort. That trapper has been using a drone to try to track the mustang's movements through the dense woods, but the capture process has been slow going. The owner plans to lure the animal into a large enclosure that automatically closes once the mustang steps inside, officials and others involved in the effort have said.

Thousands of Acres to Search

Part of the challenge is sheer terrain. Liberty Reservoir covers 3,100 acres of water surrounded by 9,200 acres of protected forest within the Liberty Reservoir Cooperative Wildlife Management Area spanning western Baltimore and eastern Carroll counties, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Completed in 1954 after the North Branch of the Patapsco River was dammed, the reservoir holds 43 billion gallons of water and supplies drinking water to roughly 1.8 million residents across the Baltimore region. The watershed grounds are open year-round to hikers and horseback riders but closed to unauthorized motor vehicles, giving the mustang plenty of cover and few obstacles to a quiet escape route.

Jurisdiction over the property itself is its own tangle. Liberty Reservoir is owned by Baltimore City even though it sits within Carroll and Baltimore counties, and the Baltimore Environmental Police — a law enforcement unit run by the Baltimore City Department of Public Works — holds full arrest powers and concurrent jurisdiction across the public lands and waterways surrounding the reservoir. Local animal control, meanwhile, falls to the Humane Society of Carroll County, which holds an official municipal contract with Carroll County government to enforce animal control laws and run the county shelter in Westminster.

The Stakes for a Nighttime Collision

The danger isn't hypothetical. Research published by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in June found that large animal strikes — mostly involving deer, horses, and cattle — account for the vast majority of animal-related motor vehicle fatalities nationwide. Maryland drivers already face a 1 in 115 risk of an animal-vehicle collision, ranking the state 24th nationally, according to industry casualty data State Farm released in 2025 and reported by Annapolis Patch. A 1,000-pound horse darting into traffic at night raises the odds of a severe swerving crash considerably higher than a typical deer strike.

There's also legal exposure to consider. Under Maryland law and Carroll County code, livestock owners can be held liable for property damage or personal injuries caused by animals running loose, while stray dogs impounded under county code face a mandatory 5-to-7-day hold period, according to the Humane Society of Carroll County. For now, drivers along Deer Park Road are being urged to slow down, stay alert, and avoid approaching the mustang if they spot it. Anyone with sightings or information is asked to contact the Humane Society of Carroll County at (410) 848-4810, option 2.